How to train new starters without blowing the wage budget
Training a new starter costs hours twice: the new person’s, and the time of whoever teaches them. Neither can be skipped, and training time is paid. What you can control is when those hours fall, how many there are and when the new starter starts to count as cover. Here is a way to plan all three.
A new starter is a cost before they are a help. For the first few shifts they need someone beside them, they are slower than the team they join, and the person teaching them slows down too. Trying to dodge that cost by putting someone straight onto a busy Saturday rarely saves anything: the mistakes, the stretched team and the remade orders are paid for another way.
The better approach is to budget training like any other part of the week. Decide the hours up front, put them where they cost least and teach most, and plan the point where the new person starts to count. Getting a new starter onto the roster in their first week, from paperwork to first shift, is covered in onboarding a new employee onto the roster. This article is about the hours and the money.
Training time is paid time
Before the budget, the rule. The Fair Work Ombudsman says that if an employee does training as part of their job, they have to be paid for those hours, because time spent in training is time worked. That includes on-the-job training, online courses, formal training courses and team training, and compulsory meetings can count as time worked too.
- Modules done at home. If you require a new starter to complete online courses for the job, the time is training. Roster it and pay it.
- Unpaid trials. The Fair Work Ombudsman says an unpaid trial may be unlawful if it goes on longer than needed to demonstrate the skills for the job, involves more than a demonstration of those skills, or is not directly supervised. Any time beyond what is reasonably needed must be paid at the appropriate minimum rate. Its own example of a barista asked to work a first week unpaid is one that should have been paid (unpaid trials).
- Probation. An employee on probation receives the same entitlements as someone who is not, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman, so probation does not make training hours cheaper.
- Minimum shifts. A training shift is a shift. Under the Restaurant Industry Award 2020 and the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020, a casual must be engaged and paid for at least 2 consecutive hours each time (clause 11.3 of each). The minimum daily engagement for a casual is 3 hours under the General Retail Industry Award 2020 (clause 11.2) and 3 consecutive hours under the Fast Food Industry Award 2020 (clause 11.3).
So a one hour induction on its own day is paid as 2 hours under the Restaurant and Hospitality awards. Attach it to a shift instead. If you are not sure which award covers your business, the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Find my award tool will tell you.
Where the money goes when someone is learning
Training costs more than the new starter’s wages. Count all of it when you plan, because the parts you do not count are the parts that overrun.
| Cost | What it is | How to keep it down |
|---|---|---|
| The new starter’s hours | Every hour they are rostered, including hours spent shadowing before they serve anyone | Keep shadow shifts short and in quiet hours, and move on to supported shifts as soon as they are ready |
| Extra cover | Hours added because the new starter cannot yet be counted as a full person | Plan when they count as part of a person, then a whole one, and trim the extra cover to match |
| The trainer’s time | An experienced person working more slowly while they teach, often on your busiest station | Train in quiet hours and give each lesson a clear goal, so it ends on time |
| Penalty rates | Training hours on weekends, public holidays and some late hours cost more under many awards | Put training on weekday daytime shifts where you can |
| Mistakes and waste | Remade drinks, wrong orders and slower service while skills settle | Practise on quiet shifts, not in the rush |
Put training hours where they cost least
Under the Restaurant Industry Award, ordinary hours worked between 6:00 am and 10:00 pm Monday to Friday are paid at 100% of the minimum hourly rate for full-time and part-time employees, and 125% for casuals at Introductory level to Level 2, a figure that includes the casual loading. On a Saturday those figures are 125% and 150%, on a Sunday 150% and 150%, and on a public holiday 225% and 250% (Table 8 in clause 24.2). The same four hours of shadowing cost more on a Sunday than on a Tuesday morning.
Other awards set different rates and different times, so check yours on its pay rates page, such as the Restaurant Industry Award pay rates or the General Retail Industry Award pay rates. The weekend and public holiday hours calculator shows how much of a training plan lands on those days.
Cost is only half the reason. Quiet hours are also when the trainer has time to explain and the new starter has room to practise. Use sales by the hour to find them, as forecasting staffing from weekly sales shows. A mid-morning lull or the hour after lunch makes a better classroom than the rush.
Plan training in stages
A new starter moves through three stages, and each one costs the roster something different. Naming the stages is what stops training hours running on with no end in sight.
| Stage | What the new starter does | How they count on the roster | When to move on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shadow | Watches and helps a trainer, and learns the station, the menu and the routines | Not counted: rostered on top of normal cover | When they can do the basic tasks with the trainer watching |
| Supported | Works the station with a trainer close by to step in | Counted as part of a person, with the trainer covering the gap | When they get through a quiet period without help |
| Solo | Works the station alone, starting with quiet shifts | Counted as a full person on quiet shifts first, then on busier ones | When they keep pace at the peak |
Write down what ready means at each stage in your business, such as making the drinks on the menu to your standard, taking a phone order correctly or closing the till without help. A named skill to reach turns an open ended shadow period into a short one, and gives the trainer something to teach towards.
Choose the trainer, and check the classifications
The best trainer is not always the fastest person on the team. Pick someone who explains well, and roster them where teaching will not leave a gap in service. Give them the plan, so they know what the new starter should have covered by the end of each shift.
Training others can be part of what sets a person’s classification. Under the Fast Food Industry Award, an employee who has the major day-to-day responsibility for training new employees is a Fast Food Employee Level 2 (clause 12.4(b)). Under the Restaurant Industry Award, assisting in the training and supervision of food and beverage attendants of a lower classification is among the duties listed for a food and beverage attendant grade 3 (clause A.2.3). If you give someone ongoing training duties, check that their classification still matches the work.
New starters have a classification too. Under the Restaurant and Hospitality awards, an employee who enters the industry without the competency for level 1 can be at Introductory level for up to 3 months while undertaking appropriate training, and then moves to level 1 unless both agree that up to 3 more months of training is needed (clause A.1 of each). Under the Fast Food Industry Award, employees must be told their classification in writing (clause 12.3).
A worked example: three weeks for a new barista
A cafe covered by the Restaurant Industry Award rosters about 180 hours a week. Its weekday mornings from 7:00 to 11:00 are quiet, with two baristas on: Tom, who is staying, and Lee, a casual who leaves at the end of the second week. The owner hires Mia as a casual barista at Introductory level to take over Lee’s Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, and plans three weeks of training with Tom as her trainer.
| Week | Stage | Mia’s shifts | Change to other shifts | Extra paid hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Induction and shadow | Monday 10:00 to 12:00 induction, then Wednesday and Thursday 7:00 to 11:00 beside Tom | None: Mia is on top of normal cover | 10 |
| 2 | Supported | Tuesday to Thursday 7:00 to 11:00 | Lee, who asked for fewer hours before leaving, finishes at 9:00 instead of 11:00 on those three days | 6 |
| 3 | Solo on quiet shifts | Tuesday to Thursday 7:00 to 11:00 | Mia takes over Lee’s three shifts | 0 |
Week 1 adds Mia’s 2 hour induction and two 4 hour shadow shifts, 10 hours in all. In week 2 Mia works 12 hours while Lee works 6 fewer, adding 6. In week 3 Mia’s 12 hours replace Lee’s 12. Every shift, including Lee’s shorter 2 hour mornings, meets the 2 hour casual minimum in clause 11.3.
Over three weeks the plan adds 16 paid hours to a roster of about 540, just under 3%. All of them fall between 6:00 am and 10:00 pm on weekdays, so Mia is paid at 125% of the minimum hourly rate for her classification, including the casual loading. Had the same 16 hours been put on Saturdays, each would have been paid at 150%, a fifth more for exactly the same training (Table 8).
The owner budgets the 16 hours before Mia starts, as a line of their own. Building a roster around a weekly wage budget covers setting the week’s budget, and the roster cost calculator estimates the cost of each training week.
Keep training from creeping into other costs
- Do not stretch the trainer’s shift. A trainer who stays back to finish a lesson can move into overtime under some awards. Preventing accidental overtime covers where the lines are.
- Train new starters together. Two new starters sharing one induction and one trainer cost less than two separate rounds, as long as the trainer can look after both.
- Label training shifts on the roster. Mark them so the team knows they are extra to cover, and so they can be totalled at the end of the month.
- Compare the plan with what happened. If week 2 turned into week 4, find out why before the next hire. Comparing rostered and actual labour costs shows where the hours went.
Roster Flow covers the rest of the week: availability and leave from staff phones, the roster published to everybody at once, clock ins that become timesheets, and approved hours sent to Xero, MYOB or a CSV file.
A checklist for training on a budget
- Every training hour, including inductions and online courses you require, is rostered and paid
- Training shifts meet the award’s minimum engagement
- Training sits in quiet weekday hours wherever possible
- The plan has shadow, supported and solo stages, each with a skill to reach
- Extra cover is trimmed as the new starter starts to count
- The trainer is named, rostered where teaching will not leave a gap, and correctly classified
- The new starter’s classification matches the work they do
- Training hours are budgeted as their own line and compared with what actually happened
Questions
Do I have to pay new staff for training?
Yes, if they are employees. The Fair Work Ombudsman says time spent in training is time worked and has to be paid, whether it is on-the-job training, an online course or team training.
Can I ask a new starter to do an unpaid trial shift?
Only a short, directly supervised demonstration of the skills the job needs can be unpaid, and how long is needed depends on the work, from an hour to one shift in the Fair Work Ombudsman’s guidance. Time beyond that must be paid at the appropriate minimum rate.
What is the shortest training shift I can roster for a casual?
The award’s minimum engagement. It is 2 consecutive hours under the Restaurant and Hospitality awards, and 3 hours under the General Retail and Fast Food awards.
Is training cheaper while someone is on probation?
No. An employee on probation receives the same entitlements as other employees, so their training hours are paid in the same way.
When should a new starter count towards cover?
Once they can run the station without help at the level of trade on that shift. Count them as part of a person on supported shifts, then as a full person on quiet shifts before busy ones.
Should the person doing the training be paid more?
Check their classification. Under some awards training duties belong to a higher classification, such as a Fast Food Employee Level 2, who has the major day-to-day responsibility for training new employees.
Sources
- Fair Work Ombudsman: unpaid work
- Fair Work Ombudsman: unpaid trials
- Fair Work Ombudsman: probation
- Fair Work Commission: Restaurant Industry Award 2020 [MA000119]
- Fair Work Commission: Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 [MA000009]
- Fair Work Commission: General Retail Industry Award 2020 [MA000004]
- Fair Work Commission: Fast Food Industry Award 2020 [MA000003]
- Fair Work Ombudsman: find my award